The Irish Mirror reports that thousands of women who took a 'pregnancy test bill' in the 1970s may have taken a drug that caused deformities in their children unbeknownst to them.

The new evidence - which was released on Tuesday morning by the University of Aberdeen - found that the active ingredients for the drug 'Primodos' has the potential to cause serious birth defects.

One of the research leaders, Marie Lyon, told the publication that thousands of the drugs were being shipped to Ireland each year in the 70s.

“I was astounded to discover information in the LandesArchiv files in Berlin, documenting the sale of one thousand boxes of Duogynon per month to Ireland, in 1978.

“This was eleven years after the first major study was published identifying a link to miscarriages, stillbirths and abnormalities and three years after the Committee on Safety of Medicines published their warning notice which stated ‘the link has been confirmed.'

“It is inconceivable that 1,000 women per month required a hormone pregnancy test or suffered from amenorrhoea, which was a short term condition.”

The drug manufacturer, Bayer/Schering, has not yet commented on the situation.